Nashville Pussy - Up The Dosage (Cover Artwork)
Staff Review

Nashville Pussy

Up The Dosage (2014)

SPV


Motorhead meets Lynyrd Skynyrd. That's how I used to describe Nashville Pussy to people who had never heard them, but it may be time to reconsider. Maybe it should be ZZ Top meets AC/DC. Even the cover art of Up The Dosage is reminiscent of Back In Black. The sound has changed a bit over the years as the band has embraced their bluesy roots. They've slowly been moving away from the speed that defined their 1998 debut, Let Them Eat Pussy. Luckily, some things never change. They're still all about drugs, and sex and rock and roll.

Nashville Pussy is built around the husband and wife team of Blaine Cartwright (lead vocals, guitar) and Ruyter Suys (lead guitar, vocals). The interplay between the two of them is one of the things that makes this band great. The other thing is their sense of humor. Opening track "Everybody's Fault But Mine," which features some tasty organ licks, and album closer "Pussy's Not A Dirty Word" find them in fine form poking fun at themselves. The Atlanta—based band also lampoons southern living on "Pillbilly" and "The South's Too Fat To Rise Again," two highlights. "White And Loud" is a fantastic song that many of us can relate to.

All of the song were written with Eddie Spaghetti of Supersuckers fame. The bands are definitely kindred spirits. They venture deep into country territory with "Before The Drugs Wear Off" and "Hooray For Cocaine, Hooray For Tennessee," with its pleasant mandolin intro. Suys takes a rare turn at lead vocals on "Takin' It Easy." The only problem with the song is that it's far too short.

Double entendre is a running theme on Up The Dosage, and some may want to cry sexism. I would argue that there are two women in the group, and most of the lyrics are obviously tongue in cheek. The women do exploit their sex appeal a bit, but first and foremost, they are excellent musicians.

Nashville Pussy is an underrated band. American audiences are so concerned with genres and sub—genres, that straight up rock is often marginalized. This is Chuck Berry taken to its logical extreme. This album is definitely recommended. When it comes to raunchy,three—minute rock and roll songs, few do it better.